Retire in Style with Lolita

Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given. When Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes.....Joan Winmill Brown quotes Please click pictures to enlarge:)

Snow quietly fell overnight. Just a thin layer and as of this posting it is slowly melting. I left my succulents out and will see how well they do through the winter months. Please click to enlarge pictures.

The pineapple has been a universal symbol of hospitality and welcome for many centuries all over the world. How very fitting to have it around as family and friends gather at Christmas time. Fresh pineapples no less. Exotic and delicious! Please click pictures to enlarge. For the dining table. Welcome topiary and wreath. For Christmas or New Year's day dinner buffet. Hostess gift. Fantastic ideas for Christmas decorating and entertaining... and for the next Luau !

I cannot remember any Christmas when I did not have Poinsettias around the house. Here is a story as to how Poinsettias were associated with Christmas. It came from a Mexican legend. "The story goes that a child, with no means for a grander gift, gathered humble weeds from the side of the road to place at the church altar on Christmas Eve. The congregation witnessed a Christmas miracle: the weeds turned into brilliant red flowers." The Poinsettia first came to the US in 1825. Brought by Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first US ambassador to Mexico. The plant was named after him. Poinsettias symbolize good cheer and success. They bring joy and festivity to the Christmas season. Here is a Christmas Poinsettia centrepiece on my dining table. Please click pictures to enlarge. Are Poinsettias poisonous? For years poinsettias had the bad reputation of being poisonous. While they are not meant to be eaten by humans, pets or livestock, ingesting poinsettias would probably...

I enjoy browsing and shopping at Christmas Craft fairs. I admire the creativity and patience of crafters young and old. They are amazing. Craft fairs started the first weekend of November and some will continue till the weekend before Christmas. The biggest craft fair that I have been to this season is the Circle Craft Fair at Vancouver Convention Centre. Top of the line food and crafts. Two shops attracted our attention and wallet: Please click pictures to enlarge. Wildhagen hats. Precocious Boutique. The cowl neck sweaters were unique and stylish. At popular craft fairs here in Maple Ridge I bought christmas cakes and pickled favourites (carrots, green beans, asparagus, etc.). Bought a Christmas apron and the popular crocheted ruffled or boa scarves. I also bought beautiful hats. Warm handmade stylish hats. Please click pictures to enlarge. Christmas shopping at craft fairs is a great affair !

Hair brings one's self-image into focus; it is vanity's proving ground. Hair is terribly personal, a tangle of mysterious prejudices. ~Shana Alexander Please click pictures to enlarge. It has been almost 6 months since I stopped coloring my hair. More of my gray is visible. My hairdresser calls it platinum silver. Life is an endless struggle full of frustrations and challenges, but eventually you find a hair stylist you like. ~Author Unknown

Many springs ago while browsing around shops at La Conner, Washington, I came upon a shop selling T-shirts and other souvenirs with the logo or poem: "when I am an old woman I shall wear purple". Please click pictures to enlarge. I don`t have the t-shirt and fridge magnet anymore but I continue to like and enjoy the poem. Warning by Jenny Joseph WHEN I AM AN OLD WOMAN I SHALL WEAR PURPLE With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter. I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells And run my stick along the public railings And make up for the sobriety of my youth. I shall go out in my slippers in the rain And pick the flowers in other people's gardens And learn to spit You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat And eat three pounds of sausages at a go Or only brea...

My first trip to China was in the Fall of 2004. The tour was called "Glimpses of China, an Experience of a Lifetime". My fascination in China must have started in University when I became friends with Susan. She invited me to her house. A mansion in the midst of the city. Her mother in lovely Cheong-sam met us. She walked slowly, her feet unusually small... I later found they were bound as was the old Chinese custom. I remember their home was a combination of modern and Chinese furniture and decor. Her parents spoke only Chinese. I have visited a couple of times more and with smiles and gestures and some words of Chinese their family made me feel welcome. There grew in me a certain fascination and curiosity about their culture, their stories, why so many products are made in China, what is life like in China. Since that first trip to China I have been back twice more. I have been to their major cities, villages, travelled through major highways and even through the Gobi...

I have 3 African Violet plants for over a year now. Their flowers were gone through their first winter with me but they all came back last Spring. They were in bloom for most of the summer and then early this Fall the flowers dropped. I thought I may have to wait till Spring again for the flowers to come back. This week I was pleasantly surprised to find one of them in bloom again! I learned that the symbolism of African Violet is Spirituality and Protection. please click picture to enlarge.

Just want to make a statement that fun and humor keeps the aging process more enjoyable! As I have said in a previous blog: we cannot stop the aging process so we might as well enjoy it. Here are some pictures at our Halloween Party at Sunwood Living Retirement Residence. There`s always time to play!

I am spending this lovely weekend with my favourite author Pearl S. Buck. There are some books that one never gets tired revisiting time and again. Such is the case with me and novels written by Pearl S. Buck. And many more... No man can be called friendless who has God and the companionship of good books. ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning